Steel Soviet Union

Holding the Deshka 7mm heavy machine gun in front of him, he leaned his upper body out of the car, and the cold night wind whistled past his ears.

After the high-intensity battle with rapid secretion of adrenaline, Malashenko was immediately followed by a deep sense of sleepiness and fatigue sweeping through his body.

The troops he commanded either rushed through the night or took down the enemy's bridgehead in the dark. If you count it carefully, Malashenko has basically not slept for at least two days and two nights.

If he hadn't caught the moment and just squinted in the commander's position to soothe his nerves and closed his eyes to rest, Malashenko estimated that he might have fallen down and fell asleep in the commander's position. Even though his body and mind are approaching the limit, there is still one thing that must be completed as soon as possible. This is also the most essential source of motivation that supports Malashenko to continue moving forward.

The visibility is so low that it makes people want to complain about the darkness. Even the telescope is not very useful.

He held a telescope in his hand and looked around but still found nothing. Malashenko, who shook his head and chose to give up, returned to the turret. Iushkin, who was sitting in the gunner's position and just lit a cigarette, asked questions. .

"How's it going? Did you see anything?"

Iushkin, with a cigarette in his mouth, looked hopeful, but the final answer waiting for him was just Malashenko's helpless shake of the head.

"You can't see anything but blackness. Maybe you can see something. Do you want to go out and try?"

Facing Malashenko's teasing tone, Iushkin raised the corner of his mouth and puffed out a puff of smoke, seemingly nonchalant.

"Your eyes are better than mine. I think I'd better forget it. It will at least be warmer in the tank, so we can stop like this."

If there is anyone in the entire No. 177 crew who knows the route best, it must be Seryosha who is in the driver's seat. After the joke with Iushkin came to an end, Malashenko immediately changed the subject. Open your mouth.

"Seryozha, can you see the road clearly? How far are we from the town of Karachi?"

Seryosa, who was concentrating on driving, glanced at the traveling map placed beside him after hearing this. The traveling route marked with red lines on the map was extremely obvious. Seryosa, who had hardly thought about it, was taking advantage of the dim light. After seeing the map clearly under the lights in the car, he spoke.

"It's less than four kilometers away. We'll be there soon. How should we fight? Comrade Commander."

Seryosha, who was holding the joystick in his hand, asked casually at best, but this question aroused Malashenko's attention.

“We still don’t know the enemy’s specific deployment, so it seems we can only find a nearby breakthrough to catch them off guard.

The sound of a mighty tank battalion galloping across the snowy field at full power is not insignificant. At this point, Malashenko no longer expects that he can conduct a concealed assault. This is simply unrealistic.

I can’t say that the large group of German defenders who escaped from the bridgehead all ran back to Karachi Town to join the main force, but at least half of them must have fled back to the town in a panic. From this point of view, The direction in which the Germans had fled could be seen at a glance.

In this way, it is impossible for the Germans entrenched in the town not to know that the bridgehead has been captured, and they will inevitably increase their vigilance and attention. ,

Instead of being cautious and hiding in the dark to show off surprise attack tactics for fear of being discovered, Malashenko felt that it was more realistic to gather the main force together to catch the opponent by surprise. This would naturally have the greatest chance of winning.

But before taking it for granted, Malashenko still has to complete some preliminary preparations for the plan, and these preliminary preparations are now in place.

"Do you think it's okay to let those recon tanks attract the attention of the Germans?"

Just then, what Iushkin and Malashenko were thinking about suddenly converged and focused on the same point.

"How will you know if it works if you don't try it? I have full confidence in this plan."

"As soon as the cannon fires from the reconnaissance force, the Germans, whose nerves have been tense, will definitely fire back and move towards that side. By then, we will be able to know the general defense situation of the Germans. If the speed is fast enough, maybe You can also take the opportunity to kick the butts of those German guys. Where can you find such a good thing? "

Malashenko, whose face was full of confidence, explained everything clearly, and Iushkin, who was already ready for the battle, felt his blood boiling.

"Poke those German guys in the butt, right? I forgot the last time I did something like this. Just hearing about it makes me feel so excited."

Before Iushkin and Malashenko finished speaking, a sudden roar of artillery fire from a slightly distant direction broke the silence of the night and rang in their ears.

Boom - boom -

Da da da da——

"It's those T70s. Our reconnaissance force opened fire, Malashenko! What's your next plan?"

What came over the radio was the familiar voice of his old classmate and good partner Lavrinenko. Malashenko, who pressed the microphone button, responded without hesitation.

"The original plan remains unchanged. The main force continues to move forward! The reconnaissance force's firing direction is exactly opposite to ours. If nothing else, most of the Germans are now facing us. Take the time to start taking action! All vehicle crews move forward immediately. assault!"

The torrent of steel shrouded in darkness began to speed up, speeding forward through the snow.

But in the temporary headquarters of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade that had just been set up on the bridgehead, political commissar Petrov, who rarely lost his temper and had always shown himself to be a good guy, was furious in an extremely rare way.

"What are you talking about!? Can't contact Comrade Brigade Commander and the others? What do you do as a communications director?! If Comrade Brigade Commander and the others have any problems, I will immediately remove you from your post and send you to trial!"

Political Commissar Petrov grabbed the opponent by the collar and almost roared loudly. The volume was so high that it was even higher than the biting cold wind outside the tent. Everyone in the brigade tent lowered their heads and remained silent. , dare not say a word, or they are just busy with the work in hand and pretend not to hear at all.

"I have sent someone to contact them by car. Comrade Political Commissar, we should be able to catch up with Comrade Brigadier and the others soon. I can assure you."

"Promise? Promise what!? Do you guarantee it with what you say!?"

After venting his anger, Political Commissar Petrov knew that getting angry like this was definitely not the way to go. He immediately blurted out further execution orders to the communications staff officer who was very close to him.